In the framework of her trip to the Los Lagos Region, the Minister of Health, Ximena Aguilera, visited the Cesfam Varas Varas vaccinator, located in the commune of Puerto Montt, instance in which the holder of the portfolio urged the target population to be inoculated with the bivalent vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 and to maintain prevention measures, in the face of criticism for the slow pace of the process.
“We want to make a very intensive call to people to go vaccinated, to take advantage of this time in which although we have had a slight increase in cases, we have not had a large number of serious cases but it is precisely because of vaccination and that people have to go to get vaccinated,” said the country’s highest health authority.
Minister Aguilera said that during her visit, she reviewed the vaccination figures of hospital officials and observed that this figure is low in the region, which is why she called “health officials to go get the bivalent vaccine.”
The Minister of Health highlighted the elderly population, which “have been very obedient in the sense of following the indications of the health authorities and that has allowed the impact of this disease on them to be reduced, so they follow their example.”
During the activity, the Secretary of State reaffirmed that “the pandemic is not over and we have to learn to live with this virus”, and recalled that last October the country advanced to the Opening Phase, where “we have seen how after that there are waves of cases, but fortunately, thanks to vaccination and the precautions that people take, It has not involved stress in hospitals and there has not been a very intensive increase in the use of beds which is what interests us particularly.”
“It is very important that seeing what is happening in the northern hemisphere, and particularly in China, we decided to extend the health alert to have all the tools at hand in case we have to, for example, change the phase in which we are, which for now we do not see, “added the head of Health.
At the local level, Dr. Aguilera said that “we are working with the Seremi to intensify the work of vaccination and, in the same way, with the director of the Reloncaví Health Service, we are all very concerned that we will effectively gain time for the preparation of any eventuality that happens with the pandemic “.
Head of Epidemiology calls for maintaining self-care measures
The head of Epidemiology of the Ministry of Health, Christian García, took stock regarding the evolution of the pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2, in which he explained that “in the last seven days there has been a decrease in cases of 15%, however, in the previous weeks we were observing a slight increase in cases”.
Despite this figure, Dr. García emphasized that “this disease is difficult to predict and infections can increase and decrease successively, so it is essential to maintain self-care measures and that the entire population has its vaccination schedule up to date.”
In this line, he stressed that it is very important that we all continue to take care of ourselves, we must maintain permanent ventilation of closed spaces, prioritize outdoor activities and not leave frequent hand washing. He also recalled that the use of a mask is mandatory for users who go to a health center with patient care, and that this protection measure is still recommended for people with respiratory symptoms, or who go to long-stay centers, places of high agglomeration and in public or private collective transport.
“It is essential that people who present symptoms related to the disease wear a mask and test themselves in a timely manner to confirm or rule out the diagnosis,” recalled the head of Epidemiology, who added that testing is the way in which a person can quickly isolate themselves if they are infected and, thus, cut the chain of transmission.
Global situation
The expert from the Ministry of Health pointed out that there is currently uncertainty in the epidemiological scenario both globally and in Chile, as a result of the significant increase in severe cases that has occurred in China in recent days and weeks.
Regarding the global epidemiological scenario, García explained that “this phenomenon is mainly produced by the subvariants of Ómicron BF.7 and BA5.2, in a context of aa population with low previous exposure to SARS-CoV-2 and with relatively low levels of booster vaccination in the general population.”
In this context, the head of Epidemiology stressed that Chile is one of the countries with the highest coverage of booster vaccination, with more than 93% in third doses and more than 82% in fourth doses in people over 18 years of age, which has allowed Chile to maintain a low health impact, that is, low hospitalization occupancy numbers but also very low ICU bed occupancy compared to previous pandemic periods. However, he recalled that the authorities are alert and continue to implement measures to reduce risks. Within these measures is the extension of the Covid-19 Health Alert until March 31, and some requirements for travelers who have been in China the last 7 days.
In addition, he reiterated the call for people who are entitled to be vaccinated with the bivalent dose, which protects against different variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, and recalled that vaccination with booster doses is still in force for all those who have to receive a new dose.
“The evidence has shown us that the protection provided by the second booster or fourth dose remains high even beyond 6 months, so it is of utmost importance to complete the vaccination program that corresponds to us to be safe,” concluded García.
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